FBI warns Norwell police about Snapchat message threatening school shooting

A Snapchat message threatening gun violence at a Massachusetts school prompted Norwell police to open an investigation, the police department said.

Around 6:59 p.m. Wednesday, an FBI agent contacted the Norwell Police Department to inform them of a message being used on the social media app Snapchat, the department said in a statement.

The agent told police that Snapchat flagged the post and reported it to the FBI, the statement said. The post showed a child with the message: “What do you think? I’m shooting up the school.”

Police arrived at the child’s home, where he admitted to posting the photo on a private Snapchat story and that it was a joke, the statement said.

The child does not have access to guns and does not live with anyone who owns guns, police said.

Although police deemed the threat not credible, the investigation is ongoing and local schools will have an increased police presence, the department wrote. Police Chief Edward Lee “has increased police patrols at all schools and surrounding areas.”

This is the second time a Massachusetts police department has opened an investigation into a threat of gun violence against a school made on Snapchat. On Wednesday, a child was charged for making threats on Snapchat on Monday, which alerted Newburyport police.